


Matters of the Heart

by TheFibreWitch



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Bad Thing Happen Bingo, Gen, Gil and Malcolm need hugs and each other, Wrongfully Arrested
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23298688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFibreWitch/pseuds/TheFibreWitch
Summary: Written for "Wrongfully Arrested" Bad Things Happen Bingoaka: Who Framed Gil Arroyo?
Comments: 9
Kudos: 30





	Matters of the Heart

_“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”_

Malcolm’s ears were ringing as the handcuffs clicked into place, he was frozen on the spot.

“...Lieutenant Arroyo, do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you?” the FBI agent said.

“Yes,” Gil replied gruffly, as the agent pushed him into the back of the car. Malcolm watched dumbstruck as his world collapsed around him.

\----

“Dani? What’s going on in there? They won’t let me in to watch the interrogation,” Malcolm stressed, his voice frantic. Dani had just walked out of the observation room; a look of worry was plastered across her face.

“They’re pinning him for the murders, they suggest he should lawyer up. It’s not looking good,” she said in disbelief.

“What? Gil didn't do anything! He was on the trail of the real killer,” Malcolm said exasperated.

“I know that Bright!” Dani shot back in frustration, “Look, things aren’t going well for Gil right now. It seems our killer was really good at framing Gil. If I didn’t know any better, I’d be inclined to believe it too. We just gotta do the best we can. You, me, and JT are off the case, but we are allowed to provide any helpful information. Aside from that… our hands are tied.” Dani’s tone bordered on defeat, “We know Gil is innocent. The truth will come out.” She put a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. He watched as she turned and headed towards the conference room to start removing their evidence boards. The door to the interrogation room opened and Agent McBroom stepped out.

“Ah, Malcolm Bright, no surprise to see you here,” he drawled. “I thought I made it clear you’re off the case. Why are you still hanging around my interrogation room?”

“Crystal, in fact,” Malcolm shot back, “and this is _my_ precinct, so I have a right to be here.”

“Yes, well while that may be true, you don’t have any right to stick your nose in my case.” McBroom retorted, “run along now and let us professionals work.” He waved his hand in gesture. Malcolm’s face felt hot. McBroom walked away, clearly bored with Malcolm’s presence. Malcolm glared daggers into McBroom’s back.

_‘I need to know what Gil said,’_ Malcolm thought, and without thinking past that, he opened the door to the observation room and made for the DVD used to record the interrogation. Malcolm grabbed the disk and looked up. He could see Gil sitting at the table with his head in his hands.

“I’m going to fix this Gil, I promise,” Malcolm vowed as he fled the room.

\----

Malcolm rushed into his home office. He knew he only had a few hours before someone noticed the missing disk. He popped it into his computer and pressed play.

“Alright Arroyo let’s get this over with,” McBroom grumbled. Gil was staring at his cuffed hands.

“We’ll start simple; why did you do it?” McBroom began to pace. Gil didn’t speak. “Come ON Gil! You know how this goes. Don’t make it harder.” McBroom smacked the table. Gil seemed unfazed. McBroom sighed.

“Corey Goldstein, Sarah Winters, John Arms, Dan Robinson, Ian Smith, Tanya Seymour, Wallace Masters. Seven. Seven victims murdered, shot and then their hearts removed. A bit much, don’t you think?” McBroom flicked the victims' photos on the table as if he were dealing cards. “Why. Did. You. Do. It?” he asked again.

Gil finally spoke. “I didn’t.”

“Okay, sure, keep denying it, Arroyo. But what you can’t deny is your frequent visits to a Dr. Martin Whitly at Claremont Psychiatric Hospital, right?” McBroom smiled insincerely. Gil’s hand twitched.

“It was for the case,” Gil rasped.

“Ah, right, for the case,” McBroom embellished, “And what did good ole’ Doc Whitly have to say about this case? How did he fit in?”

“The victims… they were all former patients of his. They all had heart issues and Dr. Whitly saved their lives. He was connected to this case.”

“And how did Dr. Whitly react when you brought him this news?” McBroom pressed.

“Surprised? I don’t know, I was there for information only. I didn’t care what he felt.”

“There for information. Right. But I thought the precinct already had a Dr. Whitly consultant. Malcolm Bright, or rather, Malcolm Whitly.”

Malcolm flinched at the sound of his name. Gil looked furious.

“We… made an agreement, Dr. Whitly and I,” he said in a hushed tone.

“And what type of agreement? Perhaps a hit list of former patients Dr. Whitly never got the chance to kill?” McBroom leaned close to Gil. Gil’s head snapped up as he looked the agent directly in the eyes.

“No.” He growled, “He made me agree that if he helped us solve the case, I would begin to distance myself from his family. He doesn’t like my relationship with Malcolm or Jessica.”

“Ah yes. Jessica Whitly, the Surgeon’s wife. Interesting how much you’ve gravitated towards her. Especially so soon after your own wife’s death. Three years is a quick turnaround, Gil. Unless… there were feelings before Jackie passed.”

“How DARE you!” Gil shouted, “I _loved_ my wife fully. Until the very end. Even now. How dare you accuse me of being unfaithful to her or insinuate that Jessica Whitly and I are involved!” Gil visibly shook from rage.

“There’s that fire Arroyo, quite a temper you got there. It seems Jackie is what we would call a ‘trigger’, isn’t that right Gil? and triggers lead to motive. So, let’s review.”

McBroom took a seat in his chair.

“We have seven victims, all former patients with heart issues who were saved by Dr. Whitly. You were able to gain information from Dr. Whitly on the agreement to stay away from his family, whom you seem to have close, personal relationships with, I assume because you want to fill the void that your deceased wife left behind. How’s our narrative so far? Pretty factual I’d say, but enough about you, let’s look at our victims.”

Gil shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“The victims had heart problems, needed transplants, and whatnot. They were saved, they lived, they cheated death. Now, if my information is correct, in the narrative of Gil Arroyo, there is one person who also had a heart condition. Someone who needed a transplant, but never received it, and died as a result. Jackie Arroyo.”

Gil’s face lost color, he looked as though he would be sick. McBroom continued his monologue.

“Now, I find it interesting that these victims were shot with a standard issued weapon distributed within the NYPD, and then had their hearts removed. _Transplanted_ if you will. And we have you. Somebody who was given a standard issue weapon, and capable of killing, someone with a connection to Dr. Whitly, someone with a wife dead from a heart condition that has been cured before as we had seen with our victims, and someone with no alibi, especially since our last victim had died the day after you and your team paid them a visit.”

“Your logic is flawed agent. I told you, I didn’t do it. We were looking for someone with a vendetta against Martin Whitly. He’s the key, ask my team.”

McBroom stood up, a deep frown appearing on his face.

“Oh, trust me, I will be having some words with your team members. You just sit tight for now Arroyo, maybe think of a lawyer to call.”

Malcolm’s computer screen went black as the recording ended. Dani was right, they had nothing to prove Gil’s innocence and the evidence was pretty strong against him. Malcolm felt helpless. He was running out of time. He decided that his only hope was to speak to Dr. Whitly himself. Perhaps Martin left out key information when he talked to Gil. Malcolm rushed to Claremont.

\----

As Malcolm walked the halls of Claremont, his hand began to tremble. Gil had only seen Dr. Whitly in his place because Gil felt that he needed a break from his father. He rounded the corner to be buzzed into the hallway where Dr. Whitly resided, only to see someone already in the cell. Malcolm froze and ducked away before he was spotted. Dr. Whitly hadn’t been allowed to see anyone except family and the police, so who was this man in the cell? Malcolm got out his phone and dialed.

“Dani, I need you and JT at Claremont, now!” Malcolm spoke urgently, “I might be wrong, but I think the killer is here visiting my father.”

“We’re on our way, stay out of trouble Bright,” Dani replied.

“Sure.” He hung up the phone and peeked down the hallway. The man was pacing around while Martin watched him, a grin on his face. Malcolm decided that he could potentially stall the man if he were to pay a visit to his dad, so he stood up and knocked on the door.

Mr. David looked up and came over to let Malcolm in.

“Hi Malcolm, I wasn’t expecting to see you, we have a Detective here from your precinct asking Martin some follow up questions, want me to let you in?” Mr. David asked.

“That would be great, thank you, Mr. David,” Malcolm replied. The door buzzed causing Martin and the man’s attention to snap to his arrival.

Martin got a wicked grin, “My boy! I wasn’t expecting a visit, how are you?”

Malcolm didn’t answer, his attention was fixed on the stranger in the room. Malcolm could swear there was something familiar about him.

“Well, I should be going, I wouldn’t want to interrupt your son’s visit,” the man said, making for the door. But Malcolm stepped in front of him, blocking the way.

“Nonsense, besides I just got here _Detective_ , I’d love to hear what information you got from my father,” Malcolm insisted.

Martin’s smile grew wider as the man frowned. Malcolm suddenly remembered seeing the man around the precinct when he was younger.

“Yes, you are a Detective, I knew you looked familiar. Detective Carl Jones, or rather, former Detective.” Malcolm squinted at the man, “Now, why are you here with my father?”

“Well, to help our good friend Lieutenant Arroyo, right Jonesy? Ah, Lieutenant Arroyo, such a nice ring to that title, don’t you think?” Martin tittered.

Carl’s cheek twitched and his eyes flashed with rage.

“Help Gil? You lost your badge years ago,” Malcolm puzzled.

“Have they locked him up yet? I wish I could have seen his face when they arrested him,” Carl grinned.

Malcolm’s eyes widened, “You? You did all this? You killed those people?”

Carl gave a slight bow.

“So it wasn’t a vendetta against Dr. Whitly like we suspected, but rather it was a vendetta against Gil,” Malcolm stated.

Carl sneered, “He didn’t deserve the Surgeon’s arrest. He got all the credit, all the fame. What about us other cops, we worked hard too! _I_ worked hard to catch this monster!” Carl jabbed a finger at Martin.

“Tsk, flattery will get you nowhere,” Martin teased. Carl made his move then. He rushed at Malcolm and knocked him to the floor, fists flying.

“Hey now, that’s not very nice,” Martin scolded from the sidelines. Malcolm struggled to block blow after blow from Carl.

“I deserved it, not Gil Arroyo. Me! I did!” Carl punctuated his rage with each swing.

“Come on, Malcolm get up, you’re going to let this guy beat you?” Martin scoffed, disappointed. Finally, Mr. David rushed in with Dani and JT in tow. They pulled Carl off Malcolm and cuffed him.

“It was so easy! Dumb luck! Dumb luck was never on my side. It was so easy to frame him. He was going to rot. I deserved it! I work hard for what I want!” Carl rambled as JT led him away.

“What a show! That was exciting!” Martin smiled at Dani and Malcolm. They said nothing as they walked out of the cell.

“I’ll see you soon my boy!” Martin called after them.

“You good?” Dani asked once they were outside.

“No worse than normal,” Malcolm shrugged in reply.

“Hey, we got him, Gil is off the hook, you did it.” Dani comforted as they headed back to the precinct. Malcolm nodded in reply.

\----

Dani and Malcolm were walking into the precinct as Gil exited the interrogation room.

“Gil!” Malcolm exclaimed. The older man smiled warmly at Malcolm; Malcolm returned the smile. “I figured it out, we were looking in the wrong direction the whole time.”

“Yeah, Carl Jones. What a creep, I didn’t like him when we worked together. I just can’t believe that he’d go so far as to kill just to frame me,” Gil murmured sadly.

“Well, we got him now, and you’re clear, that’s what’s important,” Dani reassured.

“I’m just glad you guys weren’t hurt or anything while I was locked away,” Gil grinned and clapped a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. McBroom had come out of the interrogation room and started towards the trio.

“Lieutenant, I’d like to apologize for my behavior, but I was just doing my job,” he said gruffly, hardly apologizing at all.

“Yeah, well, duty above all, right Agent?” Gil replied nonchalantly.

McBroom grunted in reply.

“Yes, well, we started to question Mr. Jones and he’s singing like a bird, would you and your team like to join in the observation room?”

“Sure,” Malcolm cut in, McBroom glared at him warily. They headed into the room as Carl sat where Gil had been a few hours earlier.

“I’m telling you, I deserved that title, that promotion, I stayed after hours, I worked endlessly on the Surgeon’s case files! And by a stroke of dumb luck, he _happens_ upon the home?” Carl was hysterical.

“Mr. Jones, we are not discussing that right now, we’re discussing the seven lives that you took in cold blood,” An agent said sternly.

“They were dead already, they cheated death, they deserved it. No one survives the Surgeon. That monster,” Carl sneered.

“If you dislike Dr. Whitly so much, why visit him? What was your plan?”

“We had a common enemy, Gil Arroyo. I wanted Gil to pay for stealing my promotion, and The Surgeon wanted him out of his family’s life. So we made a plan. I’d go after his former patients to link the Surgeon to the case and make it so the implication of removing the hearts looked like someone grief-stricken over the loss of a loved one who died of heart complications. It was the perfect tragedy. But dumb luck never was on my side. I worked hard. And I still ended up with nothing because of Arroyo and his stupid team.” Carl growled.

“I’ve seen enough,” Gil whispered and left the room. Malcolm followed.

“Are you doing okay? I saw what they said to you earlier,” Malcolm asked gently. Gil looked tired.

“You did? Yeah, I’m okay. Much better now.” Gil gave a small smile.

“Were you really going to distance yourself from me?” Malcolm asked in a small voice.

“Never, that man has no control over me. I was just playing along, turns out he was playing me.” Gil chuckled darkly, “No, I’m not going anywhere kid, you can count on that.”

Malcolm smiled. “Let me get you a cup of coffee Gil, you look like hell.”

“That sounds great kid.” Gil returned the smile as Malcolm headed towards the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Bad Things Happen Bingo! I'm very excited to share this story with you guys. I hope you enjoy!  
> As always, my undying gratitude goes to sonshineandshowers for helping with edits. <3


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